How to install DVD playback capability

ironss: gstreamer dvd plugin is available as part of plugins-bad (or ugly?) and does not work reliably. However, Totem works with the xine backend to play back DVDs. This will keep you going until gstreamer gets dvd playback. Note that you do not have to install xine-ui or mplayer as suggested in

To get java working go to Tools->Preferences->Advanced->Content-> Check "Enable Java". Click the "Enable Java..." button enter "/usr/lib/jvm/java-1.5.0-sun/jre/lib/i386" (for sun java) in the new dialog and then click the "Validate Java Path" button.

Note: Ubuntu Dapper comes with the DejaVu fonts (derived from Bitstream Vera) and provides adequate support for Latin, Greek and Cyrillic based languages.

How to install Chinese Input Method (SCIM)

The following advices are outdated and it could be hard to revert to normal afterwards. Please follow instead the official Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake guide HERE

Please note that scim is now installed by default in Dapper, and installing Chinese, Japanese or Korean Support is done using System>Administration>Language Support. The wiki details the method more thoroughly

How to install Windows Applications in Linux (Wine)

Wine Is Not an Emulator. Wine is an Open Source implementation of the Windows API on top of X and Unix. Think of Wine as a compatibility layer for running Windows programs. Wine does not require Microsoft Windows, as it is a completely free alternative implementation of the Windows API consisting of 100% non-Microsoft code, however Wine can optionally use native Windows DLLs if they are available.

How to install a Drop Down Terminal like in First Person Shooters (tilda)

Do you want a console like in a first person shooter? Tilda should take care of you.

sudo apt-get install tilda

The default keybinding is F1. To change the default keybinding, either enter tilda -C at the terminal, or right click on the tilda terminal then click Preferences. While in preferences, you can change other things such as transparency, font, size, and window size.

# GDM Configuration Customization file.
#
# This file is the appropriate place for specifying your customizations to the
# GDM configuration. If you run gdmsetup, it will automatically edit this
# file for you and will cause the daemon and any running GDM GUI programs to
# automatically update with the new configuration. Not all configuration
# options are supported by gdmsetup, so to modify some values it may be
# necessary to modify this file directly by hand.
#
# To hand-edit this file, simply add or modify the key=value combination in
# the appropriate section in the template below. Refer to the comments in the
# gdm.conf file for information about each option. Also refer to the reference
# documentation.
#
# If you hand edit a GDM configuration file, you should run the following
# command to get the GDM daemon to notice the change. Any running GDM GUI
# programs will also be notified to update with the new configuration.
#
# gdmflexiserver --command="UPDATE_CONFIG <configuration key>"
#
# For example, the "Enable" key in the "[debug]" section would be specified by
# "debug/Enable".
#
# You can also run gdm-restart or gdm-safe-restart to cause GDM to restart and
# re-read the new configuration settings. You can also restart GDM by sending
# a HUP or USR1 signal to the daemon. HUP behaves like gdm-restart and causes
# any user session started by GDM to exit immediately while USR1 behaves like
# gdm-safe-restart and will wait until all users log out before restarting GDM.
#
# For full reference documentation see the gnome help browser under
# GNOME|System category. You can also find the docs in HTML form on
# http://www.gnome.org/projects/gdm/
#
# NOTE: Lines that begin with "#" are considered comments.
#
# Have fun!
[daemon]
[security]
[xdmcp]
[gui]
[greeter]
[chooser]
[debug]
[servers]# Override display 1 to use Xgl
0=Xgl
[server-Xgl]
name=Xgl server
command=/usr/bin/Xgl :0 -fullscreen -ac -accel glx:pbuffer -accel xv:fbo
flexible=true

Create a script that runs Xgl/Compiz on startup

sudo gedit /usr/bin/thefuture

Insert the following lines into the new file. Replace .us with appropriate keyboard binding for your region. Eg .gb for United Kingdom. For a full list of keyboard bindings, type ls /usr/share/xmodmap in a terminal. If unsure, leave as .us (United States)

If Xgl/Compiz doesn't seem to work, or you get errors, simply restart your machine after adding "thefuture" to Startup programs

If moving windows slows down the system, run gconf-editor from the terminal. Find apps/compiz/general/screen0/options. Disable detect_refresh_rate and set refresh rate to 60. Everything should work fine now...

If you are using a non default keyboard layout (other language), you might have to change it back to what you need if the keyboard acts funny at System/Settings/Keyboard.

Select the minimalistic alternative (/usr/local/lib/usplash/minimalastic.so) by entering the corresponding number. If you ever want to revert back to the original splash, select the default (/usr/lib/usplash/usplash-default.so)

How to forcefully unmount CD/DVD-ROM manually

How to remount /etc/fstab without rebooting

How to install a Wacom tablet

For a detailed guide with screenshots about how to configure the "Extended input devices" in your graphic applications, please follow the official Dapper guide at https://wiki.ubuntu.com//Wacom

With the version of the Linux Wacom driver (0.7.2) in Ubuntu 6.06 Dapper Drake, if you unplug you tablet, it won't function when you plug it back in and you will have to restart X. For this reason, it is best to leave the tablet plugged in. This limitation will be removed when the 0.7.4 version of the driver is included in Ubuntu.

1. Using Synaptic package manager1, check if the packages xserver-xorg-input-wacom and wacom-tools are already installed - if not, install them. If you prefer using the command line, you can also execute :

sudo apt-get install xserver-xorg-input-wacom wacom-tools

2. Save a copy of your /etc/X11/xorg.conf :

sudo cp /etc/X11/xorg.conf /etc/X11/xorg.conf.backup

then edit it with the command line :

sudo gedit /etc/X11/xorg.conf

and change all /dev/wacom occurences into /dev/input/wacom (created by wacom-tools udev scripts), then save the file.

You should be ready to go after you have restarted X. Remember to configure the "Extended input devices" in your graphic applications (Gimp, Inkscape), however you can already check if it's working by moving your stylus on the tablet : the mouse cursor should go through the whole screen.

The above lines change the default file in three ways: the application is placed in the Application/Internet category, gksudo will make the application run as superuser and we put a nice icon that appears in the menu.

Start the client with Applications -> Internet -> PPTP Client

How to Configure Ubuntu/Kubuntu with WPA using Network-Manager

Ubuntu Dapper in typical cases can configure WPA to work out of the box with minimal hassle. You'll need to install network-manager.

For Ubuntu:

sudo apt-get install network-manager-gnome

For Kubuntu (will install knetworkmanager):

sudo apt-get install network-mananger-kde

Logout/Reboot.

Ubuntu users should now see the NetworkManager Applet in the Gnome notification area. Kubuntu users will probably have to run knetworkmanager before they see NetworkManager in the systray.

Once Network-Manager is installed, click on the NM icon in the notification area (default is at the top right of Ubuntu/Gnome). Choose your network, then enter your passphrase. Type a password for the keyring, and you're set.

Note: If you installed Kubuntu then installed ubuntu-desktop & network-manager-gnome, you may not be able to use network-manager in Gnome, if at all. In this case, you may have to use WPA Supplicant and do some manual editing of conf files to get WPA up and running.

Note: When you first log into Gnome/KDE, the keyring application will ask for a password. Future revisions of Network-Manager should resolve this.

If you reboot now, the disk will be writable to the selected users when they logon. If you want the changes to take effect immediately without rebooting, execute the following command, ignoring the errors about "/" and others not being unmounted. You'll have to logout from all your user sessions for the new group to be acknowledged (usually a logout from your graphical session and login back again will do it).

How to apt-get the easy way (Synaptic)

In the Installation Media tab, click Add. There are three separate repositories; Dapper Drake, Security Updates and Updates. Select each repository and check Officially supported, Restricted copyright, Community maintained (Universe) and Non-free (Multiverse). Ensure you click OK between each repository to save your changes

You should now see those three repositories under Channels. Make sure Officially supported, Restricted copyright, Community maintained (Universe) and Non-free (Multiverse) appears under each repository

To add backports and PLF (new versions of many applications. Unsupported. May contain illegal packages. Use at own risk.)

Settings -> Repositories

Click on Add and then Custom

Paste the following four lines into the box and click Add Repository, one line at a time:

Now you can type extended characters using the RightWin key (next to AltGr), according to this keyboard settings file.
Specifically, the lines that start with GDK_Multi_key are those that we can use here. The Compose key is actually GDK_Multi_key.

Database Server

How to install MYSQL Database Server

MySQL initially only allows connections from the localhost (127.0.0.1). We'll need to remove that restriction if you wish to make it accessible to everyone on the internet. Open the file /etc/mysql/my.cnf

sudo gedit /etc/mysql/my.cnf

Find the line bind-address = 127.0.0.1 and comment it out

...
#bind-address = 127.0.0.1
...

MySQL comes with no root password as default. This is a huge security risk. You'll need to set one. So that the local computer gets root access as well, you'll need to set a password for that too. The local-machine-name is the name of the computer you're working on. For more information see here

Upgrading Ubuntu

How to upgrade from Hoary Hedgehog -> Breezy Badger -> Dapper Drake

If you don't have a CD available make SURE you comment/remove the line pertaining to your CD media

sudo gedit /etc/apt/sources.list

/etc/apt/sources.list

for an upgrade to breezy your sources.list should look something similar to this:

## Uncomment the following two lines to fetch updated software from the network
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy main restricted
## Uncomment the following two lines to fetch major bug fix updates produced
## after the final release of the distribution.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-updates main restricted
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-updates main restricted
## Uncomment the following two lines to add software from the 'universe'
## repository.
## N.B. software from this repository is ENTIRELY UNSUPPORTED by the Ubuntu
## team, and may not be under a free licence. Please satisfy yourself as to
## your rights to use the software. Also, please note that software in
## universe WILL NOT receive any review or updates from the Ubuntu security
## team.
deb http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy universe
deb-src http://us.archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy universe
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-security main restricted
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-security main restricted
deb http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-security universe
deb-src http://security.ubuntu.com/ubuntu breezy-security universe</div>

To upgrade from breezy to dapper, just replace (ctrl+h) all instances of 'breezy' with 'dapper' within the /etc/apt/sources.list

Save this file.

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
sudo apt-get dist-upgrade

Save your session, reboot, and enjoy.

NOTE:

I would NOT suggest upgrading directly from hoary to dapper. Upgrade: hoary->breezy->dapper